Rose

Chapter 17

I'd made it back to our room before Willow and had fallen straight asleep. I hadn't even heard her come in and I hadn't had the chance to tell her about anything. I looked over to her bed but it was still empty. I looked at the window, it was dark outside. I checked the time - 3am. Where is she? I slowly got myself up and out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. I felt awake even though it was so early so I headed out into the living area.

I opened the door and there sitting on the sofa were two girls. One was Flic. One was... I shut the door again. I looked at my bed. Am I awake? I shook my head. I must still be half asleep. I wiped my eyes and tried again. I opened the bedroom door. What the...? "Raven? Is that you?"

"Rose? What are you doing here?" She jumped up off the sofa and was by my side in a flash. I must have blinked for too long and I shook my head again.

"Raven?" I looked at her. The same long dark hair as always, but her eyes... I looked closer. "Your eyes are red now?" That was a colour I'd never seen her wear before. Then they changed purple right in front of me. OK maybe I was still dreaming. Or... "Are you a Witch too? Is that why you're here?" I grabbed her shoulders. She was definitely here and I was definitely awake. "That's why your eyes always changed colour! You were using glamour!" It all made sense now.

"Umm no. Not exactly. I'm not a Witch." She explained.

"You're not?" I was confused again. "Then what are you doing here?"

"I'm your new suitemate. Surprise!" She smiled.

I looked from Raven to Flic. "She is?"

Flic nodded. "She is."

"You're the Shifter! Oh my god you have to tell me everything." I pulled her towards the sofa and sat her down next to me. "How long have you known you were a Shifter? What animal do you shift into? Why were you living on Earth? Did you know who I was? Did you know I was a Witch this whole time?"

"Rose! Calm down," She laughed. "I had no idea until this moment that you were even here, or that you're a Witch." She added. "Wait." She turned to Flic. "Rose!" She pointed at me. "Rose is The Maiden?"

Flic nodded. "I'm just taking a wild stab in the dark here, and guessing that you two know each other." She raised her eyebrows.

"Rose and I have known each other since we were little. The four of us used to hang out together - Rose, Wynne, Dee, and I." Explained Raven.

"Are you here to help find Wynne?" I asked.

"Wynne's missing?" She looked at Flic again, "Wynne is the girl they think is The Maiden?" She asked. Flic nodded. "Oh no!" She turned back to me. "I had no idea Rose, I'm so sorry. We're going to find her, you know that right?" She said it as if it were a done deal and I practically jumped into her arms and sobbed. Somehow this moment of reality, my old, normal reality, had made everything feel new all over again. Flic moved across to sit behind me and the three of us just sat there hugging for ages. It was comforting to have Raven back. She was like something normal I could grab onto in a world of crazy. Of course I wouldn't have classed a Shifter as normal eight days ago, but I wasn't sure that information had really sunk in yet.

I'm not sure how much later it had been but I had fallen asleep on the sofa and the girls had covered me with a blanket. The light was shining in through the window indicating morning was finally here. After a quick run to the bathroom I was back making myself a morning cuppa.

"Morning." Said Flic looking as radiant as usual. "You'd better make that a quick one. We've got assembly shortly," She said checking her gold, diamond encrusted watch. She looked particularly done up this morning, especially since it was late for her.